GERRY and Kate McCann were given fresh hope today after Portugal's Attorney General agreed to reopen the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.

We hope that this will finally lead to her being found and to the discovery of whoever is responsible for this crime.

Gerry and Kate McCann

Public prosecutors confirmed the case would be reactivated more than five years after it was archived following a formal request from Portuguese police.

Officers based in Porto are understood to have presented compelling new leads to law chiefs separate to those being worked on by British police conducting their own probe.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office confirmed in a statement released today: "Portugal's Attorney General has determined the reopening of the inquiry relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann following a request from the Policia Judiciaria."

"The decision follows the presentation of new material justifying the reopening of the investigation."

Public prosecutors in Portimao, the same judicial division tasked with the original probe into Madeleine's disappearance, will be put in charge of the reopened inquiry.

Police in the town, where disgraced former police chief Goncalo Amaral was based, are expected to be asked to work under their supervision.

Authorities in Portugal also slapped a secrecy order on the new material, banning it from being made public.

Madeleine's parents, in a joint statement released today through a spokesman, said: "We are very pleased that the investigation to find our missing daughter Madeleine has been officially reopened in Portugal.

"We hope that this will finally lead to her being found and to the discovery of whoever is responsible for this crime.

"We once again urge any member of the public who may have information relating to Madeleine's abduction to contact the police in Portugal or the UK.

"Please be patient and respect the work of the police as they endeavour to find the answers we so desperately need.

"In particular we request the media consider carefully Madeleine's safety and the integrity of the investigation in their reporting.

"Thank you for your understanding and support."

Detectives in Porto, who have been conducting a review of the Madeleine McCann case for the past two years, are thought to have requested the reopening of the case.

They are believed to have made the request so colleagues on the Algarve can formally interview potential key witnesses they have approached informally during trips to southern Portugal.

They are understood to be focussing on the theory Madeleine, three when she disappeared in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, was kidnapped in a pre-planned snatch.

Portuguese daily Correio da Manha has reported officers have been looking at the possibility a foreign paedophile gang took Madeleine.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office said she was unable to comment on the new lines of inquiry.

She said: "I do not know what they are and how significant they are and even if I did I couldn't comment because of the secrecy order.

"However it is clear from the statement we have released that the decision to reopen the Madeleine McCann investigation has been based on new elements that indicate it's a justifiable action."

No-one from the Policia Judiciaria, the Portuguse police force involved in the original investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, was immediately available for comment.

The Ocean Club apartments in Praia da Luz [GETTY]

It was not clear today if police officers likely to be mobilised as part of the reopened investigation will be the same detectives as the ones who have been working on behalf of Scotland Yard following their formal request for help.

Home Secretary Theresa May made the request in a letter sent out in July.

The Algarve-based officers are thought to have been looking through phone records.

Earlier this month Scotland Yard spoke of a possible breakthrough after it emerged officers were analysing data from the phone records of people who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished.

Officers said they had identified 41 "persons of interest, including several Brits who were in Portugal at the time.

They also released new e-fits including images of a man seen carrying a girl in pyjamas near the McCanns' holiday flat.

Britain's top policeman Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said this week Scotland Yard detectives, who began a review of the Madeleine McCann case in 2011, now have the "best chance" of solving the mystery.

Madeleine McCann's parents were forced to employ teams of private detectives to continue the hunt for their daughter after Portuguese authorities shelved their investigation into Madeleine's disappearance in July 2008.

In May 2011, four years after her disappearance, Theresa May with the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron ordered Scotland Yard to begin a review of the evidence.

Earlier this summer the Met Police announced the review was being turned into a formal investigation.

The E-fits of potential new suspects, including a man carrying a child in pyjamas spotted near the McCanns' holiday flat, were released last week during a BBC Crimewatch special.

Last night it emerged the Portuguese probe will run in parallel with the Met Police investigation, dubbed Operation Grange.

Met Police revealed today they had met Portuguese officers in Lisbon on October 17 for a briefing on the new lines of inquiry that have emerged in Portugal.

AC Mark Rowley, Specialist Crime and Operations, one of the two officers present at the briefing, said: "The meeting was very positive, and we and the Policia Judiciaria have a shared determination to do everything possible to discover what happened to Madeleine.

"Colleagues in Portugal fully shared with us the developments in their review, and the fact that they were taking the significant step of applying for the investigation to be formally reopened.

"From the near future, MPS detectives from Operation Grange will travel regularly to Portugal under the terms of the ILOR in relation to the UK investigation.

"This is a welcome development, but both sides of the investigation are at relatively early stages, with much work remaining to be done. This new momentum is encouraging, but we still have a way to go, and as with all major investigations, not all lines of enquiry that look promising will yield results.

"Last week was a significant point in the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, and I would like to thank the public across Europe for the overwhelming response to the appeals that we made here at home on Crimewatch, as well as in Germany and Holland.

"Today's development is good news. Combined with the formal re-opening of the Portuguese investigation today, and our ever closer working relationship, I believe that we have the best opportunity yet to finally understand what happened to Madeleine."